N.J. man accused of brother's death in Stroudsburg

Wednesday

May 15, 2013 at 12:01 AM

The faces of Kyle Risko and his relatives hinted at the emotional strain of the past two years as they entered Stroudsburg District Court, where Risko turned himself in Tuesday on charges of killing his brother while driving drunk early one Sunday morning in March 2011.

ANDREW SCOTT

The faces of Kyle Risko and his relatives hinted at the emotional strain of the past two years as they entered Stroudsburg District Court, where Risko turned himself in Tuesday on charges of killing his brother while driving drunk early one Sunday morning in March 2011.

Stroud Area Regional Police said William Risko, 29, of Stroudsburg, was hanging from the driver's side of a 2008 Ford Explorer driven by a man later identified as his brother, Kyle, now 28, of Stewartsville, N.J., as it came out from an alley onto North Eighth Street in Stroudsburg at 4:44 a.m. on March 20, 2011.

William fell onto the road as the Explorer headed south on North Eighth Street toward Main Street, police said.

The Explorer stopped, then backed up over William, crushing his head, and then stopped again, according to court records.

The Explorer then pulled forward, turned around in a driveway and, now facing north on North Eighth Street, pulled up next to William's body.

Kyle got out of the Explorer, checked on William, then got back into the vehicle and pulled back into the alley he had driven out from, police said.

He returned on foot to where William's body was in the road, then went back into the alley (presumably to make the 4:51 a.m. call to 911), then returned and stayed with the body until police arrived, according to court records.

Police said Kyle Risko, who appeared intoxicated at the scene, initially told them the following:

He had been out drinking with brothers William and Joseph the night before into that morning, and got a Pocono Inn Towne room in Stroudsburg sometime during the night.

According to statements obtained later, Kyle had beer and may have had some cocaine, brought by him or one of his brothers, in the room, police said.

Kyle told police he and his brothers fell asleep, that Joseph woke and left sometime later and that William then woke him, telling him it was time to go, and left before he did.

After leaving the hotel room, Kyle got separated from William and was trying to find him when he came across William in a pool of blood on North Eighth Street, a block away from the hotel.

Kyle admitted to having driven a Ford Explorer, but said it was parked in the alley off North Eighth Street at the time.

"That's not what the surveillance video shows," Kimmins said.

Police said they interviewed Kyle Risko nine days later, after reviewing the video, and that he told them the following:

He left the hotel and returned to his vehicle parked in the alley. William arrived and tried getting him to stay in Stroudsburg and not drive.

Kyle refused to stay and pulled out onto North Eighth Street.

He didn't know anything was wrong until he saw an unexplained "glow in his side view mirror and something next to it."

He did a K-turn and saw William lying in the road.

He "was scared and confused and didn't know what had happened," court records say.

"This is not a case of one family seeking justice against someone from another family," said defense attorney Michael Ventrella. "Both defendant and victim in this case are from the same family, which makes it even more tragic."

Ventrella said the family has known the true story since almost the beginning.

"The family has been through enough pain from losing one son," he said. "They've been through two years of counseling and therapy, only to see their other son now charged. These charges were filed against their wishes."

Kimmins said the investigation, which included a reconstruction of the incident and blood and toxicology tests, took several months.

He said police submitted the findings of their investigation to the Monroe County District Attorney's Office, which has final say on whether to file charges. District Attorney Dave Christine was unavailable for comment Tuesday on why it took so long to file charges.